List of municipalities in North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the Southern United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, North Carolina is the ninth most populous state with 10,453,948 inhabitants but the 28th largest by land area spanning 53,819 square miles (139,390 km²) of land.^[1][2] North Carolina is divided into 100 counties and contains 532 incorporated municipalities consisting of cities, towns, or villages.^[3] The three different terms have no legal distinction.

Table of contents: Largest - - See also

Largest municipalities[]

• 

  Charlotte, largest city in North Carolina

• 

  Raleigh, capital of North Carolina

• 

  Greensboro

• 

  Durham

• 

  Winston-Salem

• 

  Fayetteville

• 

  Cary

• 

  High Point

• 

  Wilmington

• 

  Asheville

Below is a list of the 50 largest municipalities in North Carolina according to the 2020 census.

Rank	Name	Population (2020)	Population (2010)	Change	Type	County
1	Charlotte †	874,579	731,424	+19.57%	City	Mecklenburg
2	Raleigh ††	467,665	403,892	+15.79%	City	Wake (seat), Durham
3	Greensboro †	299,035	269,666	+10.89%	City	Guilford
4	Durham †	283,506	228,330	+24.17%	City	Durham (seat), Wake, Orange
5	Winston-Salem †	249,545	229,618	+8.68%	City	Forsyth
6	Fayetteville †	208,501	200,564	+3.96%	City	Cumberland
7	Cary	174,721	135,234	+29.20%	Town	Wake, Chatham
8	Wilmington †	115,451	106,476	+8.43%	City	New Hanover
9	High Point	114,059	104,371	+9.28%	City	Guilford, Randolph, Davidson, Forsyth
10	Concord †	105,240	79,066	+33.10%	City	Cabarrus
11	Asheville †	94,589	83,393	+13.43%	City	Buncombe
12	Greenville †	87,521	84,554	+3.51%	City	Pitt
13	Gastonia †	80,411	71,741	+12.09%	City	Gaston
14	Jacksonville †	72,723	70,145	+3.68%	City	Onslow
15	Chapel Hill	61,960	57,233	+8.26%	Town	Orange, Durham
16	Huntersville	61,376	46,773	+31.22%	Town	Mecklenburg
17	Apex	58,780	37,476	+56.85%	Town	Wake
18	Burlington	55,481	49,963	+11.04%	City	Alamance
19	Rocky Mount	54,341	57,477	−5.46%	City	Edgecombe, Nash
20	Kannapolis	53,114	42,625	+24.61%	City	Cabarrus, Rowan
21	Mooresville	50,193	32,711	+53.44%	Town	Iredell
22	Wilson †	47,851	49,167	−2.68%	City	Wilson
23	Wake Forest	47,601	30,117	+58.05%	Town	Wake, Franklin
24	Hickory	43,490	40,010	+8.70%	City	Catawba, Burke, Caldwell
25	Holly Springs	41,239	24,661	+67.22%	Town	Wake
26	Indian Trail	39,997	33,518	+19.33%	Town	Union
27	Salisbury †	35,540	33,662	+5.58%	City	Rowan
28	Monroe †	34,562	32,797	+5.38%	City	Union
29	Fuquay-Varina	34,152	17,937	+90.40%	Town	Wake
30	Goldsboro †	33,657	36,437	−7.63%	City	Wayne
31	Cornelius	31,412	24,866	+26.33%	Town	Mecklenburg
32	New Bern †	31,291	29,524	+5.98%	City	Craven
33	Garner	31,159	25,745	+21.03%	Town	Wake
34	Sanford †	30,261	28,094	+7.71%	City	Lee
35	Morrisville	29,630	18,576	+59.51%	Town	Wake, Durham
36	Matthews	29,435	27,198	+8.22%	Town	Mecklenburg
37	Statesville †	28,419	24,532	+15.84%	City	Iredell
38	Thomasville	27,183	26,757	+1.59%	City	Davidson, Randolph
39	Asheboro †	27,156	25,012	+8.57%	City	Randolph
40	Mint Hill	26,450	22,722	+16.41%	Town	Mecklenburg, Union
41	Kernersville	26,449	23,123	+14.38%	Town	Forsyth, Guilford
42	Clayton	26,307	16,116	+63.24%	Town	Johnston, Wake
43	Leland	22,908	13,527	+69.35%	Town	Brunswick
44	Shelby †	21,918	20,323	+7.85%	City	Cleveland
45	Carrboro	21,295	19,582	+8.75%	Town	Orange
46	Clemmons	21,163	18,627	+13.61%	Village	Forsyth
47	Waxhaw	20,534	9,859	+108.28%	Town	Union
48	Kinston †	19,900	21,677	−8.20%	City	Lenoir
49	Lexington †	19,632	18,931	+3.70%	City	Davidson
50	Knightdale	19,435	11,401	+70.47%	Town	Wake

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See also[]

• North Carolina
• List of counties in North Carolina
• List of unincorporated communities in North Carolina

References[]